The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today denounced the US and Philippine governments for using the recent calamities to justify its deployment of more US troops in various places in the country.

The CPP issued the statement in reaction to planned large-scale joint US-RP military exercises in the coming months. Thousands of US troops are scheduled to participate in the Oplan Pacific Angel exercises on February 15 to 22 and in the Balikatan exercises on March 9 and 19. US and Philippine military officials claim that these joint exercises are geared to provide medical and other relief and rehabilitation services to recent typhoon victims.

The CPP lambasted the US government for "taking advantage of the calamities to further expand and intensify its military intervention in the country camouflaged as humanitarian work. In doing so US military forces are able to gain a foothold on significant portions of Philippine territory, particularly those considered as areas of operations of the New People's Army, further reinforcing the position of the US as the dominant power in the country."

Hundreds of interventionist forces under the Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) are now already permanently stationed in US facilities in Western Mindanao and actively participating in combat operations with a minimum of 'humanitarian' cover."

"In reality, these forces comprise the advanced detachment of the US Pacific Command tasked to set up and maintain the infrastructure of US military interventionism in the Philippines as a long-term preparation for war against revolutionary and other anti-imperialist forces in the country," added the CPP.

The CPP pointed out how the US' use of 'humanitarian' cover for military intervention and dominance is now being applied in much magnified form in Haiti, which recently suffered from a disastrous magnitude-7.0 earthquake.

"The US government has taken advantage of the widespread disaster there to immediately deploy an initial 10,000 troops purportedly to help in the rescue and relief efforts, but actually to directly intervene and further entrench its military dominance," elaborated the CPP. "The US intends to outrightly use its military dominance for population control to prevent an uprising and the overthrow of the current puppet regime by the Haitian peoplewho have become more and more angry at the inutility of the puppet regime in the face of the country's grave disaster."